Composite mine car



Jan.v23, 1945. R E. DENDLER ETA.

COMPOS ITE MINE CAR Filed May 1, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIIL m mm m m mmQ 5 bRaZ R. E. DENDLER ETAL Jan. 23, 1945.v

` COMPOSITE MINE CAR Filed Hay l, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORSRalph fendler qberZ'CY/(epner ATTORNEY SYM a Patented Jan. 23, 1945COIMPOSITE MllNE CAR Ralph E. Dendler, Berwick, and Robert C'. Kepner,Bloomsburgh, Pa., assignors to American Car & Foundry Company, New York,N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 1, 1943, Serial No.485,558 I (Cl. 10S-364) 11 Claims.

para-tively cheap car which can be easily repaired may be built. A carbuilt of wood and metal is not only cheap and easy ,to repair butbecomes exceedingly important in times of national emergency whenconservation of metal is necessary without a restriction in the miningactivity. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention toprovide a mine car of the drop bottom type constructed of Wood and aminimum of metal so arranged as to produce the requisite strength.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a mine car of thecomposite type having a low iirst cost and which may be easily repaired.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a mine carhaving a combined wing brace, oor support and wheel hood.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description and accom-'panying drawings, in which:

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the car isconstructed of metal side sills having a lower iiange 2 and an upwardlydirected web 4 and an upwardly and outwardly inclined flange 6. Thisgeneral type of sill is old as shown in numerous patents such as Patent1,616,564. In the present case, however, in order to obtain betterattachment for the wheel hoods and end sill structures, the outwardlyinclined flange 6 is clipped at certain areas and bent vertically togive a true angle form in the wheel and end sill zones. It is, ofcourse, obvious that this sill could also be constructed by startingwith a true angle form sill instead ofthe sill shown in Patent1,616,564, in which case the upper portion of the angle would be clippedand the parts between the Wheel zones and between the end sills andwheel zones would be bent outwardly. The side sills have connectedthereto boxes or bearings 8 supported on axles A which in turn arecarried by wheels `W. The ends of the side sills are connected togetherby end sill structures l0 which include bumpers B and coupling pins C.The side sills are additionally tied together by means of axle hoodstructures I2 extending over and protecting the axles' and at the sametime .serving as shed platesbetween the doors D.V As

shown, the doors are three in number, each hinged on` rods supported bythe side sills in such a position that the free edges of two of thedoors are supported on the hinged edges of the adjacent doors, with thefree edge of the third door held by a latch structure L. This latchstructure includes a latch arm I4 extending outwardly to one side of thecar and adapted to be tripped by a trackside ramp as is well known. Thusthe spaced side sills are tied together by the end structures and by theaxle hood structures and the space between the sills is closed by thedoors which form the center bottom of the car. These parts are made ofmetal since they are the main load carrying parts of the car and'mu'stnot only support the load but must also resist the bumping and haulagestrains as well as weaving strains caused by uneven tracks.

In order that the car may carry a greater load and discharge the samethrough the space between the side sills, sloping wing portions areprovided and these are constructed and supported in a manner now to bedescribed. As clearly shown in the gures, particularly Figure 3, shortangular shaped members are provided having vertical legs I6 welded orotherwise attached to the webs lof the side sills and having upwardlyand cutwardly'inclined legs I8 spaced below and in substantialparallelism with the flanges 6 of the side sill. These short members aresubstantially co-extensive with the inclined flanges 6 and form with theside sill in this zone what may be termed a triple flange side sill.Short planks 20 are ,provided having their lower ends inserted betweenflanges 6 and i8 and firmly gripped by bolts 22 extending through theflanges and through the lower ends of the planks. These plankspreferably have the grain ofthe wood directed toward the doors in orderthat the material may slide more readily and have their outer or upwardends supported upon an inwardly and downwardly directed leg 24 of a beltrail. The other leg 26 of the belt rail is directed upwardly and hasattached thereto the lower ends of longitudinally extending short planks28 forming the side walls of the car. The side wall planks have theirupper edges inserted in and protected by a top rail 30. As clearlyshown, this top rail is of inverted J formation having a long verticalleg 32, a short vertical leg 34 and a connecting web 36. As clearlyshown the belt rail, top chord and side sills are continuous from end toend of the car and are joined at their ends by means of angle shapedcorner members 38. These corner members have one leg directly connectedto the top chord, belt rail and tothe ilange I8 of the short memberscarried by the side sills. The other legs 40 of the corner members aredirected inwardly toward each other and substantially parallel to theend walls of the car. The end walls are formed by short planks 42 boltedat their ends to the anges 40. The upper ends of the end planks arebolted or otherwise secured to an end top rail 44 similar in crosssection to the side top rail and the end top rails are joined to theside top rails by the angle formed corner members as well as by cornercaps or plates 46 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4). The intermediate` portions of theend planks 42 are braced by means of Z formed members 48 bolted to theplanks and riveted or otherwise secured to the end top rails by means ofgusset plates 50. The lower edges of the end wall planks are bolted to aplate 52 extending across the car immediately above the end sillstructure and attached to ilanges 40 of the corner connections as wellas to braces 48.

In order that the side wall structures may be braced and supportedintermediate their ends a combination wing brace, side stake and wheelhood structure is provided. As clearly shown each of these structures ismade up of a pair of angles having legs 60 positioned substantiallyparallel to the sloping wing floors and vertical side walls and directedaway from each other. The other legs 62 are positioned at all timessubstantially normal to the side walls and sloping floor portions andare riveted or otherwise secured together to provide in general a memberhaving a lT cross section. The angle members which are fastened togetherto form the T cross section member are deformed so as to provide avertically directed stake portion 64 and an inclined wing floor brace66. At a point 68 adjacent the wheels the angles forming the T are bentl so as to diverge downwardly to clear the wheels and after clearing theWheels they are again bent as at to provide a short connecting portionwhich may be attached to the side sills. As clearly shown, the legs 60of the angle members rest upon and are attached to the flange I8 formingpart of the side sills, while the other leg 62 is welded or otherwisesecured to the web 4 of the side sills and this connection is braced byshort gussets 12 (Fig. 5) attached to the side sill webs and to the legs62 of the combined wing brace and wheel hood structure. In order toclose the space over the wheels a substantially flat plate 14 isprovided of general triangular outline and having its edges welded orotherwise secured to the edges of flanges 62. In the present ca'se theflanges 62 are relatively high and their inner ends must be coped oir inorder that they do not project above the upper edge of the side sills.This permits bending of the top plate of the wheel hood downlin wardlyas at 'I6 for attachment to the upper edge of the side sill. In order totie the wing braces together across the car, cross ties 18 are providedhaving their ends attached to the inwardly directed anges 62 of the Tformed stake and wing support. The ends of the side wall planks 28 andthe side edges and ends of certain of the sloping floor planks 20 aresupported upon and attached to the ilanges 6D of the combined wingbrace, floor support and wheel hood structure just described. In somecases where the flanges 62 are of insufficient length it may benecessary to raise the hood top plate 14 in a small area, such as 80, inorder that suilicient clearance may be provided between the plate andthe ange of the wheel. It will be seen from the preceding that anextremely strong combined wing brace, iloor support and wheel hoodstructure has been provided with the vertically directed or stakeportion and part of the sloping iioor support portion of T cross sectionwith the leg of the T directed inwardly between the planks forming thesides and ends of the car. In this manner the car may be built ofextremely short lengths of lumber and of more or less standard rolledmetal sections. It is, of course, obvious that any breakage of plankwill be limited to a short length of plank and, therefore, repairs maybe easily and cheaply made. In cases where the metal frame really isdamaged this also may be readily repaired by substituting a suitablyformed rolled section. It will also be seen that the wheel hood is ingeneral Wedge shaped with the apex of the wedge directed into the ow ofmaterial toward the center doors and that the top surface formed by asubstantially flat plate is substantially parallel to the sloping wingfloors. The sides or ends of the hood which are formed by the legs 62 ofthe combined wing brace, floor support structure are normal to thesloping wing floors and, therefore, it is impossible for material tolodge in the car at the wheel hoods. Construction ofthe wheel hoods inthe manner shown eliminates the necessity of expensive formers or dies.

In some cases it may be desirable to use long planks for the side wallsand this may be done without changing the skeleton frame as is shown inFigure 6. In this modification the side wall planks 8| extend from endto end of the car outside of the flanges 6U of the combined wing braceand floor supports and are held in place by the bolts 82 acting intension. In order to protect the upper edge of the planks the top rails30 previously described are moved to opopsite sides of the car, thusplacing the short iiange 34 on the outer side of the car instead of theinner as previously described.

Irrespective of the manner in which the planking is arranged, it will beseen that a car of the drop bottom type has been provided utilizing aminimum of metal without sacriiicing strength. It will also be seen thatthe superstructure is formed of a metal skeleton providing the strengthelements, with the load held in the skeleton by planking carried by andattached to the skeleton.

As shown and described, the skeleton sides are formed by full length toprails, belt rails and side sills connected together by end angles and bythe combined wing brace, floor support and wheel hood structure. The endwalls of the skeleton frame are formed by the top rails and a bottomplate fastened to the corner angles and additionally joined together bythe end wall braces 48. While the car has been described more or less indetail, it will be obvious that modications and rearrangements of partsother than those shown and described may be made and all suchmodifications and rearrangements of parts are contemplated as will fallWithin the scope of the following claims defining our invention.

What is claimed is:

l. In a composite mine car the combination of metal side sills, metalend sills joining the side sills together adjacent their ends andinclosing a space therebetween, doors hingedly carried by the side sillsand adapted to swing to open position for discharge of lading throughthe space inclosed by the side sills and end sills, belt rails extendingsubstantially from end to end oi the car in spaced relation to the sidesills, upwardly and outwardly sloping wing floors formed of wood plankhaving the grain thereof directed toward the space inclosed by thesills, said plank having their ends supported by said belt rails andside sills, and spaced apart metal members connecting said side sillsand belt rails together and supporting the side edges of certain of saidwood plank.

2. In a composite mine car the combination of metal side sills, metalend sills joining the side sills together adjacent their ends andinclosing a space therebetween, doors hingedly carried by the side sillsand adapted to swing to open position for discharge of lading throughthe space inclosed by the side sills and end sills, belt rails extendingsubstantially from end to end of the car in spaced relation to the Sidesills, upwardly and outwardly sloping Wing floors formed of wood plankhaving the grain thereof directed to ward the space inclosed by thesills, said plank having their ends supported by said belt rails andside sills, and spaced apart metal members connecting said side sillsand belt rails together and supporting the side edges of certain of saidwood plank, each of said metal members being of angular cross-sectionand positioned with 'a part extending through the plane of the wingfloors.

3. In a composite mine car the combination of metal side sills, metalend sills joining the side sills together adjacent their ends andinclosing a space therebetween, doors hingedly carried by the side sillsand adapted to swing to open position for discharge of lading throughthe space inclosed by the side sills and end sills, belt rails extendingsubstantially from end to end of the car in spaced relation to the sidesills, upwardly and outwardly sloping wing floors formed of wood plankhaving the grain thereof directed toward the space inclosed by thesills, said plank having their endssupported by said belt vrails andside sills, metal top rails extending from end to end of thecar invertically spaced substantially parallel relation to said belt rails,longitudinally extending wood plank forming side walls for the car andresting on said wing oors and occupying the space between said beltrails and top rails, spaced apart metal members connecting said sidesills, belt rails and top Arails together, and means connecting the sideedges of certain of the wing iioor plank and ends of the side wall plankto said spaced apart metal members.

4. In a composite mine car the combination of metal side sills, wheelsand axles supporting the side sills, metal end sills joining the sidesills together and defining a space therebetween,

belt rails extending substantially parallel to said side sills andsubstantially from end to end of the car and in upwardly and outwardlyspaced relation to the side sills, top rails-)extending substantiallyfrom end to end' of' 'the 4car substantially in vertically spacedparallelism to said belt rails, spaced apart metal members connected tosaid side sills and to said belt rails and vtop rails and formingtherewith a skeleton car frame, short wood planks having their endssecured to said belt rails and side sills to form the side wings of thecar, and other short wood planks having their ends secured to saidspaced apart metal members to form the side Walls of the car. l

5. In a composite mine car the combination of metal side sills, wheelsand axles supporting the side sills, metal end sills joining the sidesills together and defining a space therebetween, belt rails extendingsubstantially parallel to said side sills and 'substantially' from endto end of the car and in upwardly and outwardly spaced rela'- tion tothe side sills, top rails extending substantially from end to end ofthecarsubstantially in vertically spaced parallelism to said belt rails,spaced apart metal members connected torsaid side sills and to said beltrails and top rails and forming therewith a skeleton car frame, shortwood planks having their ends secured to said belt rails and side sillsto form the side wings of the oar, and other short wood planks havingtheir ends secured to said spaced apart metal members to form the sidewalls of the car, certain of said short wood planks having their sideedges connected to the spaced apart metal members and certain of saidother short wood planks having atleast one of their side edges connectedto the belt rails and top rails.

6. In a composite mine car the combination of metal side sills, wheelsand axles supporting the side sills, metal end sills joining the sidesills together and defining a space therebetween, Ibelt rails extendingsubstantially parallel to said side sills and substantially from end toend of the car and in upwardly and outwardly spaced relation to the sidesills, top rails extending substantially from end to end of the carsubstanf tially in vertically spaced parallelism to said belt rails,spaced apart metal members connected to said side sills and to said beltrails and top rails and forming therewith a skeleton car frame, certainof said spaced apart metal members being located in the vertical planethrough the axles and having their inner ends deformed to clear saidwheels, metal plates connected to the deformed inner ends and formingtherewith wheel hoods, transversely extending wood plank connected toand supported by said sidesills and belt rails, and longitudinallyextending wood plank connected to said spaced apart metal members andforming side walls for the car.

7. In a metallic skeleton frame for a mine car the combination ofsubstantially parallel and coextensive spaced apart side sills, beltrails and top rails, end sills connecting the side sills together,spaced apart members rigidly connected' to said rails and sills andlocated in planes substantially normal thereto, and a plate secured tocertain of said spaced apart members and the adjacent side sill andforming therewith a wheel hooding structure.

8. In a metallic skeleton frame for a mine car the combination ofsubstantially parallel and coextensive spaced apart side sills, beltrails and top rails, end sills connecting the side sills together,spaced' apart members rigidly connected to said rails and sills andlocated in planes substantially normal thereto, certain of said memtoprovide a T cross-section in the zone of the' Abelt rails and top railsand diverging between the belt rails and side sills to provide clearancefor the reception of parts of wheels.

9. In a metallic skeleton frame for a mine car the combination ofsubstantially parallel and coextensive spaced apart side sills, beltrails and top rails, end sills connecting the side sills together,spaced apart; members rigidly connected to said rails and sills andlocated in planes substantially normal thereto, certain of said membersbeing constructed of angles secured together to provide a Tcross-section in the zone of the belt rails and top rails and divergingbetween the belt rails and side sills to provide clearance for thereception of parts of wheels, and metal plates secured to the divergingparts of said members and forming therewith a wheel hooding structure.

10. A ,combined side stake, wing floor brace and wheel hood for a minecar comprising a pair of metallic angles bent to conform to the contourof the wing floors and side walls of the mine car and secured togetheradjacent their outer ends in back to back relationship to provide s. Tcross-section, the inner end portions of said angles being additionallybent in a direction substantially parallel to the wing oors to providedivergent portions adjacent the car wheels, and a metal plate secured tothe top edges of the dlvergent portions of the angles and formingtherewith a wheel hood.

ll. A combined side stake, wing oor brace and wheel hood for a mine carcomprising a pair of metallic angles bent to conform to the contour ofthe wing floors and side walls of the mine car and secured togetheradjacent their outer ends in back to back relationship to provide a Tcross-section side stake and brace for the outer portion of the wingoors, said angles diverging adjacent their inner ends and' being securedtogether by a -metal plate welded to the angles to form a wheel hood andan inverted flanged channel brace forthe inner portion of the wingfloors.

RALPH E. DENDLER. ROBERT C. KEPNER.

